Maloney Holds Press Conference in Warsaw & Meets with US Troops and Allies in Support of Ukraine

Statement

Yesterday, while meeting with US allies and Ukrainian leaders in Europe in his capacity as a Member of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (NY-18) participated in a press conference from Warsaw, Poland to address the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and reiterate US support for Ukraine. See below for highlights from the press conference and his work in Europe.

While in Rzeszów, Poland, Rep. Maloney met with American troops stationed near the Ukrainian border, including several New Yorkers and a Hudson Valley native. Rep. Maloney connected with Major Duncan Walker who grew up at and attended West Point, and he joined Major Marisa Chiericella from Brooklyn for dinner. Photos of Rep. Maloney with Majors Walker and Chiericella available below and [here].

Footage and Transcript of Rep. Maloney's Remarks at Warsaw Press Conference:

Video of Rep. Maloney's Remarks at Warsaw Press Conference available [here].

Rep. Maloney Opening Remarks:

"I want to thank my colleagues, and echo their sentiments. It's an honor to be here. All four of us serve on the House Intelligence Committee, and so to see the role that is being played here by Americans is really invaluable. I want to echo their thanks of our Polish hosts. All of our NATO allies are critical to this effort, none more so than Poland for the reasons my colleagues have stated. And we thank them for their efforts.

"Yesterday, we had an opportunity to be in Rzeszów in southern Poland. I was impressed by the briefing we received from a young Army Major named Duncan Walker. Afterwards, we started to speak and I said, "Where are you from?' He said, "Well, sir, I grew up at West Point.' I said, "That's about a mile from my house, just across the Hudson River.' He said, "Well, my dad taught there. I went there as a cadet, and I'm so proud to be able to take what I learned there and to be using it here.'

"We had dinner with a bunch of our troops later that evening. Across from me was a young woman named Marisa Chierciella and she's from Greenpoint, Brooklyn. I said, "Where'd you go to school?' She said, "West Point.' And she was telling me about what they learned about Russian tactics and the Russian military, and how a lot of that was going out the window with what they're seeing right now.

"So what I want folks at home to know is that the sons and daughters produced by the Hudson Valley are right here on the frontlines of freedom. And it's an honor to see them in action, and you should be very proud of them.

"And I want to thank the President for the steadfast strength of his policy -- for rallying the allies and for declassifying the intelligence, that we normally see, but sharing it with our partners and allies to prepare the kind of response that blew a hole in the Russian economy and that has properly equipped the Ukrainians to stay in this fight and, in many ways, to win it.

"And we're going to stay with that effort. And we know there's more to do. And that's what we're here learning about from folks, not just from Poland and from our allies, but from Ukraine.

"We had an opportunity yesterday, as well, to meet with Ukrainians, members of the Parliament, the Rada, who told us firsthand what they thought of our efforts and what more we can do. And we're going to continue those conversations. And that's what we're doing here. We're trying to make sure that the United States of America is operating according to our values and our principles; that we're spending your tax dollars wisely, and that we're looking out for our men and women in uniform."

***

"Question: Two things. We've heard no boots on the ground in Ukraine. But if Russia is bold enough to go into any NATO nation, would we strike back with boots on the ground? And secondly, with all these sanctions we're piling on Russia, I believe that Putin is probably in an ivory tower and this isn't impacting him one iota. So how do we get to him directly?

Rep. Maloney. On your first question, the President's been very clear that the policy of the United States is to defend every inch of NATO territory, and I certainly agree with that policy.

When you're here, in Poland or with our other NATO partners, you understand that they are more than carrying their weight right now. And we're very lucky to have such good partners. And we should absolutely, absolutely underscore the sanctity of Article Five of the NATO Treaty. And so, beyond that, I don't want to get into hypotheticals. But we absolutely take, as an article of faith, the sanctity of Article Five.

With respect to Vladimir Putin -- look, in a very short period of time, the Ukrainians have shown the world their strength versus the Russian military. There are a lot of Russians coming home in body bags. There are going to be serious effects of that over time. In addition to that we've, through the President's leadership and with the partnership of our allies, blown a hole in the Russian economy and they will be reeling from that, with a compression of probably 15% of their GDP this year alone. That will have implications. His henchmen, the oligarchs, are on the run all over the world. We're taking away their yachts. We're not going to let them party in global capitals anymore. In my opinion, that's long overdue. And so we're going to make sure the regime and the wrongdoers in that regime, who have benefited from these policies, will pay a price.

And together, all of these things will put pressure on Vladimir Putin, whether he's in an ivory tower or out on the street, because, remember, what he fears most is his own people. What he feared most in Ukraine was a successful Slavic democracy embracing western values of freedom and economic growth, and he couldn't tolerate it. So in the end, success in Ukraine is the greatest thing we can do to ensure that Vladimir Putin, you know, suffers the consequences of this, because the policy of the United States, that I certainly support, is that Putin must fail in Ukraine.

Question. If I may ask one other question, based on the fact that you said that he's afraid of his own people, might we see a Russian revolution at some point, if the people rise up against him? If they see his policies are failing?

Rep. Maloney. Well, Hank, I don't have a crystal ball. But what I can tell you is that the most important thing we can do right now is support our NATO allies, and win the fight in Ukraine that the Ukrainians are conducting.

Remember, this is being done by Ukrainians, in defense of their own country and their own freedoms, we should stand with them. And that's the most important thing right now."

***

"Question: Just two questions if I can. First, there are reports out this morning of the Ukrainians investigating the claim of a poisonous substance, you know, that was dropped in Mariupol. Is there anything that you can tell us about that?

Rep. Crow. Hi Lisa, Jason Crow here. We've heard public reporting, the same public reporting that you're indicating. And I know NATO and the US government, others are working to try to determine the veracity of that recording.

What we do know is that Russia has become increasingly frustrated, that they have been backed into a corner; that their operations are not going well, and that Putin himself is becoming increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress of his invasion. And, as that frustration has mounted, they have resorted to more brutal and brutal tactics: siege tactics, war crimes, executions, shelling of civilian neighborhoods, missile strikes on train stations. So, I certainly wouldn't put it past him to escalate this into the use of chemical weapons, or other types of weapons.

So, we're taking those reports seriously, and I know the United States government and others are trying to determine if that did indeed occur.

Rep. Quigley. I think what the US -- the Ukrainian Ambassador to the US -- has told us is from the very beginning, the Ukrainians and others who are helping from outside organizations, are seeking to document the war crimes and indeed, in my words I believe it's accurate, the genocide that has taken place, so that people can be held accountable.

Rep. Maloney. It's Congressman Maloney, can I just add you what has characterized this conflict is the extraordinary courage and grit of Ukrainian people. From President Zelensky, but right on down. And, right now, there are a small number of courageous Ukrainians defending Mariupol. And it is only because of their extraordinary heroism, that this action, which would be the choice of a coward, to use these types of terrifying and illegal tactics would be necessary.

So it's a sign of Putin's weakness and his cowardice. But he should be held accountable for this and the other war crimes that he's committing in this country, of Ukraine."

***

"Question: Thank you all very much for doing this. We really appreciate it. My question for Congressman Welch is, given the reports of the Russian buildup of military in the eastern part of Ukraine, what about a no fly zone? Why -- well, let me ask you, do you support the idea of the United States providing the jets necessary to help Ukraine enforce their own [no] fly zone?

Rep. Welch. Well, I support getting the weapons to Ukraine that they need to be successful in defending themselves in driving out the Russians. It's a military question as to whether -- what's the best weapons that they need. What we're hearing here is that they're going to need much more heavy equipment. You know, with the weapons that they got in the beginning, the javelins, the Stingers of the MANPADS, those have been effective. But the requests, that we're understanding they're making now, and they're the ones that we have to listen to, are being accommodated. But in the Donbass, the likelihood is that the mechanized war would be much more of a factor than it was in the area around Kyiv. So whatever those weapons are, I'm in support of us providing them. But I defer to the military folks, both in Ukraine and on our side to assess what that is, including --

Question. Hasn't President Zelensky really encouraged the United States to provide him with the weapons so that Ukraine itself can enforce a no fly zone? Some people might wonder, what's the hesitancy on the part of the United States?

Rep. Welch. It's really more of a military question. And there's two questions: one is the military question. And that's a debate, and Ukraine is pushing and getting an incredible amount of military from the US. The second issue when it comes to no fly zones, is the whole question of whether that's going to draw us into, and that's the allies, into an escalation of the war directly with Russia. And the questions of whether or not, when you have a no fly zone, it involves enforcement of it -- that would create some direct conflict. Ukrainians have been very clear they want to fight this war on their own, and they want help from us. They're not asking for us to be providing boots on the ground or to be engaged in direct combat hostilities.

Rep. Maloney. And if I may say so, the most effective assistance with respect to that may be the sophisticated air defense systems that NATO countries can and should provide to the Ukrainians so that they can contest the airspace in their own country. And that it is not necessary for American forces to directly engage with Russia, which could, as the Congressman points out, trigger a much larger conflict, essentially world war three. So it's critical that we win this contest, but how we do it is very important to safeguard a larger conflict that would involve American forces being engaged directly, which none of us want."

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